The sound of his true name in her mouth sent shivers up his spine.
He shook his head.“Michael is dead.”
“But y-you’re Michael?That’s your real name.You changed it to Drew because you’re running from Max and his crew?”
He thanked a deity he didn’t believe in that he didn’t have to say all this out loud.But he knew Alana.The questions were coming.He braced himself.
“What happened?Why did you get involved with them in the first place?”
His legs felt dead.He sank into one of the chairs.Alana made to go to her chair, but then decided against it, taking the one across from him.
“I was lost, and Max found me.He has a way of making you feel special, and breaks you down slowly, like an art form.I got out ...but not before doing things I regret, and having things done to me that I regret.”
She could barely look him in the eye, shaking her head, all the while tears were spilling down her cheeks.This was him.He was doing this to her.
Even though he had no right, he reached and swept them away with his thumb.
“What have you brought to my doorstep?”she asked, her eyes pleading.
“It doesn’t matter, I’ll go back to them, and this will all become a distant memory.”
I’ll become a distant memory, he added internally.
He couldn’t stomach it.He stood, until her fingers curled around his hand.
“No.”The sheer force of the word startled him.He’d never heard her speak so loudly, so clearly.
“No, you will not.”Her eyes blazed into his own.“I know what hardship is.I know how difficult it is to want to change, to work yourself out of the gutter, from nothing into something.”She stood, her neck craning to look him in the eyes.“I’m so pissed at you, but I will not let you go back to him.You do not kneel.”
He gritted his teeth.He wanted to take her fire and consume it, let himself be consumed by her.“Neither do you,” he said.
She lifted her chin.“That settles it, then.We have one week to fix this mess of yours.”Her finger traced his scar, hesitantly, reverently, replacing the feeling of disgust Max had put there.It was like she knew; she knew that he needed the touch of someone he...
Someone he what?He questioned himself.Loved?No.That couldn’t be brought into the mix.She was already in danger.If he were in love with her, he may as well sign her death warrant.He took a step back out of her touch, ignoring the look of hurt that flashed in her hazel eyes.
Chapter Five
